Barry Heneghan (Dublin Bay North, Independent)
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56. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport if he will commit to introducing a learner driver support programme in Dublin Bay north, in view of the current driving test waiting times of 29 weeks at Raheny and 23 weeks at Killester, both of which are significantly above the Road Safety Authority’s ten-week target, and the corresponding low pass rates of 52.6% and 35.8% respectively; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22882/25]

Seán Canney (Galway East, Independent)
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Under the Road Safety Authority Act 2006, the Road Safety Authority (RSA) has statutory responsibility for the National Driver Testing Service. This includes all operational, application and scheduling matters. I have therefore referred the Deputy's question to the RSA for direct reply in relation to the Raheny and Killester test centres and I would ask the Deputy to contact my office if a response has not been received within ten days.

Pending this response, I acknowledge that current waiting times for driving tests are far in excess of what is acceptable and I would like to assure the Deputy that measures have been taken to address the issue. I met with the RSA last week to discuss this issue and instructed the Authority to return in two weeks with sustainable proposals which will provide a faster resumption to the service level agreement of 10-weeks.

To support the RSA in increasing testing capacity and improving service delivery, in September 2024 my Department sanctioned an additional 70 permanent positions for driver testers. This increases the total permanent sanction for testers to 200, which represents a doubling of permanent posts since June 2022.The recruitment process is underway, with the first tranche of new testers now being deployed into service. As additional testers enter the system, testing capacity will increase and progress should be seen on reducing waiting times in the months ahead.As a condition of the sanction given in September, the RSA was required to put a plan in place to restore the 10-week waiting time target as soon as possible. When this plan was first put forward by the RSA, it envisaged a return to the target by November 2025. This is not acceptable given the level of delays already being suffered by learner drivers. I have instructed the RSA to review the plan and identify further measures that will bring forward the date for achieving the target.

The Deputy may wish to know that driver testing is offered on Saturdays where driver testers are available to do overtime and there are also additional morning and evening test slots offered where daylight allows. This has been the case since the current backlog in driving tests started to build up.

The driver testing booking system has also been updated to allow for any unused test slots to be made available for candidates to take up at short notice. The RSA now make these appointments available for candidates to book on the MyRoadSafety portal.Finally, the RSA has commenced a review of the overall driver testing curriculum. This review is to ensure that the service is fit for purpose, future proofed and can cope with changes in vehicle technology. International best practice and research will be considered in order to produce recommendations on improving driver education in Ireland.